Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park sets a capacity cap of 35,000 visits per day. It has also implemented timed entry reservation and crowd control measures for the sake of sustainable tourism and nature conservation since tourist number continously grows year by year.
As an independent traveler, if you are planning to visit Tianmen Mountain, it really makes sense to have the ticket pre-purchased
to secure the entry as Tianmen Mountain is busy almost all over the year and ticket can be sold out several days in advance especially in high season from March to November and in major holidays such as Spring Festival, May Day, National Day etc.
In the following article, we are telling you Tianmen Mountain opening hours, ticket prices, tickets include and exclude rule, ticket booking procedures. To book tickets, please send booking request to tours@zhangjiajieguide.com and we will reply you as soon as possible.
☝ The Heaven's Gate in the Sea of Clouds
Opening hours of the National Forest Park of Tianmen are normally from 07:00 (high season and shoulder season from March to November) or 07:30 (low season from December to Feburary of the next year) to 20:00 (low season) or 20:30 (high season and shoulder season) and entrance times are from 07:00 (high season and shoulder season ) or 07:30 (low season) to 16:00. Entrance gate closes at 16:00 and you may be rejected if you are later than this.
Visitors don't have to check for operating status before leaving for their trip! Normally, Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain is open all year-round. Even though it still opens on weekends and holidays. it can be closed due to extreme weather conditions in the event of excessive rain, storms, flood and etc. without notices.
The former ticket price of Tianmen Mountain is 278 Yuan for an adult; from November 2025, adult ticket price has increased 10 Yuan to 288 CN Yuan which amounts to approximate 40 US dollar or 35 Euro dollar.
Based on the date of birth, child below 14 years old doesn't need to pay to buy ticket to visit Tianmen Mountain regardless of height and nationality.
The park also has special offers for kid and elderly which can be summarized as follows:
I. For teenagers from 14 years old to 17 years old, ticket price is CNY 152 Yuan.
II. For seniors from 60 years old to 64 year old, ticket price is CNY 152 Yuan.
III. For seniors age 65 and above, ticket price is CNY 116 Yuan.
IV. For students studying in universities and colleages in Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, ticket price is CNY 152 Yuan. People studying in overseas universities and colleages are not qualified for this.
☝ Tianmen Mountain in the sea of clouds
Besides entry fee, price of Tianmen Mountain ticket also covers cable car, environmentally friendly sightseeing shuttle bus, the upper part of tunnel escalator with 7 segments running between Tianmen Cave and mountaintop as well as the insurance. However, service charge of 32 Yuan for the lower part of tunnel escalator with 5 segements paralleling to 999 Steps to Heaven, service charge of 25 Yuan for the forest cable car running around the old growth forest on the mountaintop as well as shoe cover rental fee of 5 Yuan to walk on the glass skywalk are optional and they are not included in the ticket. Optional tickets as such don't accept online reservation and can be bought locally. Payment methods accepted at the ticket window are Renminbi cash, Alipay, Wechat or international card.
For people who don't want to queue in line, Tianmen Mountain also offers VIP express pass ticket which allows you to have priority checking in and boarding of cable car. This can largely reduce the waiting time and efficiently avoid tourist crowds especially in busy season. However, VIP express ticket is not availiable online and it must be bought locally from ticket window.
Tianmen Mountain has abandoned offseason ticket from year 2024 and therefore the so called seasonal ticket is not longer working for it.
☝ the Plank Road of Tianmen Mountain in the Sunset
How long does a Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park ticket last? Unlike that of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, ticket to Tianmen Mountain is valid for 1 day only, meaning that you must visit Tianmen Mountain just on the date purchased for.
In addition to indicating the tour date, travelers are also required to specify the time period for entering the park. To manage tourist flow and to avoid exceeding the maximum capacity for visitors, Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park has adopted the method of diverging visitors into different groups by arranging
them with different entering times. Visitors must check in at the time of the slot that is specified to be able to enter the park. Since tickets for some certain time slots are very popular and they can be sold out very quickly, tourists who have tight travel schedules are strongly advised to reserve their tickets in advance.
Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park is available for tourists from 07:00 to 16:00 in the following time slots:
I: 07:00 (high season) or 07: 30 (low season) - 08: 00;
II: 08: 00 - 09: 00;
III: 09: 00 - 10: 00;
IV: 10: 00 - 11: 00;
V: 11: 00 - 12: 00;
VI: 12: 00 - 13: 00;
VII: 13: 00- 14: 00;
VIII: 14: 00 - 15: 00;
IXX: 15: 00- 16: 00.
☝ Tianmen Temple on the Peak Overlooking the Whole Mountain
To better serve tourists around the world, Tianmen Mountain cableway is undergoing a significant upgrade and renovation from November 6, 2025. The whole construction period can last for years. For this reason, the upper half of Tianmen Mountain cableway from the middle cable station to the topped upper cable station is closed while the lower counterpart keeps operation as usual. The former transporation methods including Line A and Line B are changed a lot while Line C keeps what it was. Briefly, Line A now uses Tianmen Mount cableway, bus, tunnel escalator to go up mountain and uses tunnel escalator, Tianmen Cave Express cableway down mountain; Line B uses Tianmen Cave Express cableway and tunnel escalator up mountain and uses tunnel escalator, bus and Tianmen Mount cableway car down mountain; Line C use tunnel escalator and round trip Tianmen Cave Express cableway for both up and down mountain;.
In the following, we'd like to demonstrate differences among Line A, Line B and Line C with a transit map so that you can know cons and pros of all three lines before deciding which one to go to book tickets.
☝ Tianmen Mountain Transit Map. The red line indicates the upper section of Tianmen Mountain cableway that is closed for upgrades and renovations.
「Itinerary of Line A」: Check in through「the Tianmen Mountain Lower Cable Car Station」in the downtown to take cable car up mountain ⇒ Alight at Tianmen Mountain Middle Cable Car Station」on the half way ⇒ Change to the sightseeing shuttle bus riding on the 99 Bending Road to go to 「the Front Square of Tianmen Cave」⇒ Walk to 「Tianmen Cave」 via the 999 Steps to Heaven and visit Tianmen Cave ⇒ Take the「Tunnel Escalator with 7 segements」 from the back of Tianmen Cave to go up to the mountain top ⇒ Explore beautiful sceneries on 「the mountaintop」 ⇒ Take 「the 7-segemental Tunnel Escalator 」 back down to Tianmen Cave ⇒ walk down to 「the Front Cave Square」via the 999 Steps to Heaven ⇒ Walk to 「Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Upper Station」 to come down the mountain via Tianmen Cave express cable car ⇒ Alight at 「the the lower station of Tianmen Cave express cableway」 and walk to the Mountain Gate ⇒ Take the shuttle bus from 「Tianmen Mountain Gate」 to go to Zhangjiajie city and conclude the tour.
「Itinerary of Line B」: Take shuttle bus from Zhangjiajie city to「the Mountain Gate」 ⇒ Walk to 「the Lower Station of Tianmen Cave Express Cableway」to take cable car up mountain ⇒ Alight at 「the Upper Station of Tianmen Cave Express Cableway」and walk through the plank road to the Front Cave Sqaure ⇒ Walk to 「 Tianme Cave」 via the 999 Steps to Heaven and visit Tianmen Cave ⇒ Take 「Tunnel Escalator with 7 segements」 from the back of Tianmen Cave to go up to the mountaintop ⇒ Explore beautiful sceneries on 「the mountaintop」 ⇒ Take 「the 7-segemental Tunnel Escalator 」 back down to Tianmen Cave ⇒ walk down to 「the Front Cave Square」via the 999 Steps to Heaven ⇒ Take shuttle bus from 「 the Front Cave Square」 to the Middle Station of Tianmen Mountain Cableway ⇒ Take cable car from 「the Middle Station of Tianmen Mountain Cableway」 to go downward to the Lower Cableway Station in the downtown ⇒ Leave the cable car station and conclude the Tianmen Mountain tour.
📝 For people who has car sickness etc. and would not like to take shuttle bus running on the moutain road, Line B has the flexibility that allows you to go down mountain with Tianmen Cave Express Cableway.
☝ Tourists with tickets for Line B and Line C have to take shuttle buses and go to the Mountain Gate to use Tianmen Cave Express Cableway up mountain. This is an Image of the shuttle bus Stop for Line B and Line C which is just next to the lower cable car station in the downtown.
「Itinerary of Line C」: Take shuttle bus from Zhangjiajie city to「the Mountain Gate」 ⇒ Walk to 「the Lower Station of Tianmen Cave Express Cableway」to take cable car up mountain ⇒ Alight at 「the Upper Station of Tianmen Cave Express Cableway」and walk through the plank road to the Front Cave Sqaure ⇒ Walk to 「 Tianme Cave」 via the 999 Steps to Heaven and visit Tianmen Cave ⇒ Take 「Tunnel Escalator with 7 segements」 from the back of Tianmen Cave to go up to the mountaintop ⇒ Explore beautiful sceneries on 「the mountaintop」 ⇒ Take 「the 7-segemental Tunnel Escalator 」 back down to Tianmen Cave ⇒ walk down to 「the Front Cave Square」via the 999 Steps to Heaven ⇒ Walk to 「Tianmen Cave Express Cableway Upper Station」 via the Plank Road to take cable car down mountain ⇒ Alight at 「the the lower station of Tianmen Cave express cableway」 and walk to the Mountain Gate ⇒ Take the shuttle bus from 「Tianmen Mountain Gate」 to go to Zhangjiajie city and conclude the tour.
📝 One way riding time on Tianmen Cave Express Cableway is 5 minutes, for people who fears of heights, line C is highly recommended since it has the least usage of cable cars.
🌧🌨🌩🌪 Please be noted that severe weather conditions such as fog, ice, rain and snow can seriously impact driving safety on the Road with 99 Turns. Shuttle buses running between the Middle Station of Tianmen Mountain Cableway and the Front Cave Square will stop operation under hazardous conditions to avoid accidents. Under this case, both Line A and Line B will be changed to Line C for safe travel without prior approval and acknowledgment from tourists.
Ticket check-in procedures can be easy , simple and fast. Once tickets have been successfully reserved, we will provide you with e-tickets. You actually have two ways to check in. First option is to scan your passports and second option is to scan QR code on the e-tickets to check in. Just remember to enter the park in the time slot you reserved for, otherwise, you may be rejected.
☝ An Electronic Ticket to Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain
This is an electronic ticket of Zhangjiajie Tianmen Mountain. We have removed visitor's name and passport number from the image for privacy protection. Visitor can just scan the QR code on the electronic ticket or just scan their passports at the automatic gate to check in.
To reserve tickets for Tianmen Mountain, please send your booking request to tours@zhangjiajieguide.com.
We require the following information to be able to book tickets for you:
1. Passport copies or passport images for you and all other member(s) in the group.
2. Date of Visiting.
3. Time slot for entry. Please specify more than one slots in case the first slot is not availiable.
4. Route to go up and down the mountain. Please decide itinerary among Line A, Line B and Line C.
5. Method of Payment. We accept payment by Paypal, Alipay or Wechat Pay.
Tickets are sold maximum 30 days in advance and you are advised to contact us at least 3 days in advance in low season (winter and early spring), 7 days in advance in shoulder season (March, late November and early December) or 14 days in advance in high season (from April to early November).
